Hopes for a new concert hall for Northern Queensland were dashed in a specially convened meeting of Townsville Council held in camera last Friday (16 August)
Townsville Major, Troy Thompson:
The cost of the Concert Hall is significantly more than $100 million and as such is financially unviable at this point in time.
Live Performance Australia (LPA), the peak body representing the live arts and entertainment industry, is continuing its push for a tax offset on live theatre production costs in Australia for this tax offset to bolster the nation’s live theatre scene and make it more competitive internationally.
LPA CEO, Evelyn Richardson:
“Australia is currently not a competitive destination for investment in live theatre due to the absence of any production tax incentives, and we are missing out on private investment that instead is going to the UK or US”
It’s a good idea:
A 40 percent offset, it argues, could create over 4,000 new jobs and inject nearly half a billion dollars into the economy [… and] lead to the creation of 168 new theatrical productions across both commercial and non-profit sectors.